The GSEs securitized $111.31 billion of purchase loans in the second quarter, a 21.5 percent jump from the first quarter.

This spring, Fannie provided Invitation Homes with a $1 billion financing vehicle, which gave the real estate investment trust a cheaper cost of funds than tapping the MBS market.

The Fed governor noted: “The risk that we’ll settle into this current situation for the long run is very great.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a 13.1 percent drop in new business in their flagship single-family mortgage-backed securities programs during the second quarter, according to an exclusive analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued a combined $189.70 billion of single-family MBS during the April-June cycle. It was their weakest quarter since early last year, although year-to-date volume was still up 4.3 percent from the first half of 2016. As widely predicted, the decline was...[Includes three data tables]

Late last month the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee showed a new willingness to tackle housing-finance reform legislation and the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the wild card remains how its bipartisan solution will go over in the House. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is no friend of the two government-sponsored enterprises and has leaned toward minimizing the government’s role in the market. Based on his past legislative efforts regarding GSE reform, the conservative from Texas would love...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency proposed minor revisions to its single-family and multifamily housing goals for 2018 through 2020 to push Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to continue helping low-income borrowers. The FHFA acknowledged that Fannie and Freddie are challenged when it comes to making credit available for the low-income market. Both government-sponsored enterprises have fallen short of the market in the low-income and very low-income purchase goal almost every year since 2013, the regulator noted. Most of the single-family goals would remain...[Includes one data table]

Kittle’s resume includes a stint on MBA’s board of directors. He also served as chairman of the trade group’s political action committee...

“In a normal [commercial] bank acquisition, senior managers usually get a big payday,” said former FHLBank Chicago President Alex Pollock. “But in this case, if you merge [with another FHLB] you could lose your job.”

In California, the average Fannie/Freddie loan was $311,992 in 1Q17 compared to $307,302 in the first quarter of 2016.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s recommendation that it gain authority to oversee nonbanks didn’t go over too well with some in the mortgage industry. The GSE regulator argued that oversight of nonbank mortgage servicers only happens via contractual provisions when possible. In the FHFA’s Annual Report to Congress, it said other federal safety and soundness regulators are allowed statutory authority to examine companies that provide services to depository institutions. David Stevens, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s president and CEO, questions the purpose of the FHFA recommendation and said it would only lead to more unnecessary regulation.